Yesterday, the media was talking about a conflict between Fiat chairman Sergio Marchionne and Ferrari’s Luca di Montezemolo. There was a rumor regarding Luca di Montezemolo’s departure from the supercar manufacturer. Today, the rumor became real and Ferrari officially announced that Luca Cordero di Montezemolo will step down after he led Ferrari for 23 years.

As of October 13, Ferrari’s chairman will be Sergio Marchionne and it appears that he is planning to expand the company in luxury cars in order to better compete with VW Group’s Lamborghini or Bugatti.

The problem with Montezemolo was that he wanted Ferrari to remain autonomous and limit sales to about 7,000 cars per year in order to preserve the brand’s exclusive allure.

In addition, Marchionne expressed his disappointment regarding the performance of Ferrari’s F1 team saying that it is unacceptable and there is absolutely non-negotiable that Ferrari should have more F1 victories.

Speaking with close associates, Montezemolo said that Ferrari is now American and this is actually an end of an era.

“Ferrari will have an important role to play within the FCA Group in the upcoming flotation on Wall Street. This will open up a new and different phase which I feel should be spearheaded by the CEO of the Group.” said Luca di Montezemolo. [source: Ferrari]